The NDP Socialist Caucus was founded in 1998 at Toronto, Ontario by NDP activists who were concerned about the right-wing drift of the party leadership.

The Caucus soon had supporters across the Canadian state, especially Ontario and British Columbia. We advocate socialist policies based on economic democracy and workers’ empowerment, such as social ownership of the commanding heights of the economy, the eradication of homelessness and poverty, women’s rights and gender equality, environmental sustainability, and global peace and cooperation.

The SC published its Manifesto for a Socialist Canada in 1999 and produces its magazine, Turn Left, for every federal and Ontario provincial convention.

The SC believes that in order to attain power, the NDP must connect with working class people, wage earners and equity-seeking groups like never before. This means championing socialist policies that can capture the dreams and aspirations of millions of people in Canada and around the world.

The SC holds an annual convention every year which includes panel discussions, debates and preparations for the NDP federal convention.

Not only do we want to move the party back to its working class and socialist roots, we want to democratize the party and make it an instrument of its rank and file membership.

Millions of people in Canada and around the world are moved by the vision of a new society in which democracy, equality and cooperation – the essential values of socialism – will one day be the prevailing principles of organization. It is in the growth of their numbers and in the success of their struggles that lies the best hope for humankind.

The NDP Socialist Caucus warmly invites NDP members throughout Canada and Quebec to become involved in this most important endeavor.

Manifesto for a Socialist Canada

The document was written and edited in 1999 by a number of SC activists, and defines what our group stands for in the fight for socialist democracy, workers’ rights and economic justice.

The Manifesto discusses the current failures of corporate capitalism and puts forth socialist solutions based on a workers’ agenda. Finally, it calls for the NDP to re-connect to its socialist roots and fight alongside working people for the creation of a cooperative commonwealth.